Liz Cross, founder and managing director at The Connectives has been shortlisted in The Sunday Times’ 2017 Non-Executive Director (NED) Awards.

Nominated for her work as Chair of Coaching Inside and Out (CIAO), a social enterprise that unlocks the potential of people within the criminal justice system, Liz sits on a shortlist of five in the Not-for-Profit category.

The winners of The Sunday Times’ Non-Executive Director Awards, which highlight the often unsung role of board members in driving British business, will be announced at an awards ceremony at Claridges, London, on Wednesday 15 March.

Commenting on the achievement, Liz said: “Given the number and standard of people who were nominated, I’m delighted to have been shortlisted for my work with CIAO. Through this amazing charity, more than 30 skilled coaches have proven the dramatic impact coaching can have and over 700 men, women and children in prison and in the community have been helped.”

CIAO was launched in 2010, by its managing director Clare McGregor who said about Liz: “As the first Chair of Coaching Inside and Out, Liz Cross has not only led this extraordinary organisation’s continual transformation over the last six years but was an essential part of its creation. It’s easy for a social entrepreneur to take things repeatedly to the next level when a brilliant woman who’s done it all before with boundless experience, wisdom, energy and guts is their Chair.

“Liz took us from that very first sharing of the idea through incorporation, introducing the standards, infrastructure, management and the essential culture required to ensure we could deliver each new contract in a different part of the criminal justice system or address a new group’s needs and be recommissioned time and time again.”

Liz has served as a NED for over 30 years, on more than 20 different boards in the private, public, social enterprise and voluntary sectors – at local, national and international level.

In the business world, Liz shares her expertise on boards, governance and leadership through her consultancy, The Connectives.